Yankee Trade Rumors: Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes First Out Of The Bronx?
Two pitchers who were originally expected to lead the next New York Yankee dynasty could be on their way out.
After spelling a season-worst 1-7 slide with a four-game win streak, the New York Yankees have gotten back on track and can try to take back first place in the AL East from the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees are currently 1.5 games back from rival Boston, and according to the New York Post, team officials will focus squarely on the rest regular season at the conclusion of the MLB Draft on Saturday.
General manager Brian Cashman could move both reliever Joba Chamberlain and starter Phil Hughes, according to the Post. While both players have had their struggles this season, they may have enough value to give the Yankees a quality bat in return.
New York managed to keep pace in the division despite the absence of stars Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, and Alex Rodriguez, but the offense has been a far cry from last season’s juggernaut. Granderson, who hit 43 homers in 2012, is expected to return in June. The Yankees are 10th in the AL in runs scored and slugging, and 11th in batting average.
Second baseman Robinson Cano has spearheaded the offense with 15 home runs and 39 RBI and with a .280 batting average. While Cano is expected to maintain his good numbers in this contract year, the hodgepodge of talent behind him is not.
Lyle Overbay is second on the club with 29 RBI and Travis Hafner has 28 RBI, but both 36-year-olds are well removed from their primes in the early 2000s.
It appears Hughes has the most trade value of the two, despite his struggles this season. With a 3-4 record and a 4.80 ERA, Hughes still owns an overall record of 55-40, which could make him attractive to several NL teams, as reported by the Post.
New York could also show more patience with Hughes, who went 16-13 last year, with 12 of those wins coming in between June and September.
When he first arrived in the Bronx in 2007, Chamberlain was considered by some as a replacement for legendary closer Mariano Rivera. However, a few misguided switches from the bullpen to the starting rotation, along with injuries and a failure to develop have perhaps made Chamberlain expendable. In 13 games this season, Chamberlain has posted a 5.11 ERA with 13 strikeouts to eight walks.
The typically animated 27-year-old also got into a highly publicized verbal altercation with Rivera during a road stint in Kansas City earlier this season. Chamberlain didn’t take kindly when Rivera "shushed" him during an interview in the dugout.
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